Third suspect held in South Florida human trafficking case

Authorities have arrested a third person accused of being part of a group who coerced women into prostitution, a Broward County judge said.

Jessica Thomson, 25, was charged with human trafficking, procuring for prostitution and living off the earnings of a prostitute.

Judge John "Jay" Hurley, reading from reports in court on Tuesday, said that testimony was taken from an alleged victim and sworn statements were gathered from Thomson's co-defendants — her husband, Jeffery Thomson, 28, and Kaylen Maglaris, 20. Those co-defendants were arrested in Plantation last month and remain in jail.

Hurley said that Jessica Thomson contacted the alleged victim, who was in Orlando at the time, and "enticed" her to South Florida with a job as an escort and adult entertainer.

"She was coerced to perform sex acts under the fraudulent pretext that she would be able to receive money as compensation for her act," Hurley said. "However, it turned out that you and [Jeffery] Thomson and Maglaris were charging her agency fees and you three divided it among yourselves."

The judge said that trio was "profiting from her sexual labor" and recruiting women from other cities, such as Tampa.

Jessica Thomson told the judge that she works as a personal assistant for an adult modeling agency, and that she lives with her boss, but also spends time in Michigan where her two children live.

Thomson was ordered held on a $45,000 bond in the human trafficking case, but her bond was revoked for a prior drug case.

As a condition of release, Hurley prohibited Jessica Thomson from transporting or arranging transportation for women who are not relatives or renting a hotel room for anyone other than herself or a family member.